


Little Bird

by mariamuses



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-07 13:13:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12841920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariamuses/pseuds/mariamuses
Summary: Ember, the heir to the throne of Terrasen, is so excited to see her aunt Nesryn and uncle Sartaq that she shifts for the first time ever. And she can't shift back.





	Little Bird

**Author's Note:**

> A little surprise with some cuteness overload to start the week just right.

_Aelin_

  
I was up in the aerie with little Emberleigh, waiting for Nesryn and Sartaq to get here for Aedion and Lysandra’s wedding.  
Out of everyone in the family, the couple was Ember’s favourite, and Mannon and Dorian being in close second place. Alas, there was only one reason for it: they had animals. Nesryn had Salkhi and Sartaq had Kadara, which beat Abraxos and Manon because Dorian didn’t have a wyvern. It didn’t matter that Fenrys turned into a wolf, or Gavriel into a lion, they weren’t enough. Only Lysandra was fair game, and not even then, because she was like her second mother, so Ember didn’t really consider her an aunt.  
I suppose her love for every flying thing came from her father. Damn that buzzard for not coming up here with her to greet the Emperors of Antica, because it was freezing and she wanted to steal away his warmth.  
Emberleigh’s piercing scream pulled me out of my reverie. Seven years old but with the lungs of an opera singer.  
“Mommy! I see them! They’re here!”  
“I know sweetie, I see them too”  
She started jumping up and down so fast I thought she was going to make a hole on the floor.  
Suddenly, a blinding white light blinded me. It lasted less than a second, but my panic flared up and I started to pull Em into my embrace, to protect her, when I couldn’t find her. I looked around frantically, when I spotted a tiny little bird, flapping its wings against the cold air.  
It was one of the prettiest birds I had ever seen and its plumage was exactly Ember’s hair color. Then it hit me.  
That’s Emberleigh! She hadn’t shifted before, but I think all the contained excitement she had felt seeing the ruks had made her do it.  
And now she was tumbling around.  
I rushed to catch her before she could fly away and pummel from the tower.  
Carefuly, I closed my hands around her little newfound body. The problem was, she started thrashing, and I was so scared that she’ll hurt her wings, so I began soothing her.  
“Shhhhh, Ember, it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you, shhh…”  
I don’t think she cared much about those words, because she started pecking at my hands.  
“Sweetie, I know you’re scared, but you need to stop moving okay?”  
“Aelin, what’s wrong?” a voice said to my right. I whipped my head up and saw that Nesryn and Sartaq had already landed, and they both had a worried look on their faces.  
“It’s Emberleigh. She was so excited when she spotted you coming that it made her shift for the first time ever.” I showed them my hands, and what was between them.  
They looked carefully, then shared a look… and started laughing.  
At the sound of their laughter, I joined in.  
Again, I don’t think little Ember found it that funny, because she wasn’t pecking at my hands anymore. She was straight up biting.  
“Ow, ow. Em okay, okay. We’ll stop. Do you think you can shift back or not?”  
I was met with more thrashing. I could see that she was trying, but failing, to shift back, and that only made her panic even more.  
“I’m taking you to daddy, okay? Just stay still, please, I don’t want you hurting your wings”  
I exchanged a look with the couple beside me, who took their things and hurried downstairs after me.

* * *

 

_Rowan_

  
I had left Aelin and Emberleigh in the aerie so I could get some paperwork done before the wedding tomorrow.  
I was almost done with it when I heard my Fireheart’s steps outside the room, along with another two sets more. They stopped by my door and then it swung open.  
Aelin came rushing forward, Nesryn and Sartaq not far behind, clutching something between her hands.  
“Rowan, I need your help. It’s Ember.” she rushed out.  
I stoop abruptly.  
“What? What happened? Where is she?”  
“She’s okay, she’s here.” She proceeded then to open her hands a little bit more, enough for me to see a little bird’s beak peaking out of them.  
“Em was so pumped when she saw Kadara and Salkhi that she shifted and now she can’t shift back, but I had to take her because she was going to fly off the tower…” explained Aelin.  
I carefully took a step forward. Then another one. And another one until I could assess more clearly my daughter’s bird form.  
Only from the little feathers I could see I already knew. She was radiant. Her color was a little bit darker than my own when I shifted, but it reminded that she was as mine as she was my mate’s. And I loved it. Pride filled my chest.  
I stared at the tiny bird and said:  
“Hi precious. You are going to be okay. Daddy is here with you now.”  
Her beak opened and let out a strangled cry.  
I looked up at Aelin.  
“I’m going to cover your hands with mine. Then, you are going to open yours a little bit, and slide them off, so I can hold her.” I explained.  
We did just that, and at the end, I could feel my daughter skirmishing in my hands.  
I turned to Aelin and the guest and spoke.  
“Could you please, leave the room? She’s scared, but also, she’s embarrased, feels weird on her new body and I need to try and get her to shift back as soon as possible so she doesn’t get spooked by this experience and tries to supress any further shifts, hurting herself.”  
At that, everyone left the room.  
Now I was free to speak to her as I pleased, and I planned to do just that.  
I started moving towards the table.  
“Hello, little birdie. You are so pretty, you know that? You’re even prettier than me when I shift. You are amazing, and talented and strong…”  
She started quieting down as I praised her, not moving around as much any more. I put my hands, with her inside them, on the table.  
“Okay, we’re going to do something yeah? Together. I’m going to open my hands so you can stand on the table, but with two conditions. The first one is you can’t move your wings, because you don’t know how to fly yet, so you might hurt yourself. The second one is, after I open them, I have to check your wings and legs to see if they’re alright and nothing’s wrong, okay?”  
At that, she reluctantly gave a little cry, which I interpreted as permission.  
I released my hands from around her body, careful not to jostle her and she hesitantly stepped out of them.  
Then I proceeded to open her wings, being as delicate as I could. I checked twice, just in case, but everything seemed in order.  
Then she fell on her little butt, to allow me to take a peek at her legs, not being able to lift one and stay in the other just yet.  
Oh, how I was going to delight myself teaching her everything.  
After the quick exam. I lowered myself to her level and instructed her.  
“Kiddo, now we’re going to get you to shift back okay? But you did amazing, you’re perfect. You have to think in yourself, how you look in front of the mirror, while you are also feeling your power inside you. I know it’s hard, and is going to take a few tries, but we’re not in a rush.”  
After five minutes of encouraging, she finally shifted back.  
And started crying.  
I gathered her in my arms and started rocking her back and forth, praising her good job. Her cries were already dying down when the door open and Aelin rushed towards us, muttering an apology and hugging her.  
Right behind were our Antica’s friend, who took a look at her and said:  
“Do you wanna go se Kadara and Salkhi?”  
At that, the little tyke screamed “Yes!” and jumped from our arms, the bad experience already forgotten.  
While they took her up to the aerie again, I circled my Fireheart and she turned around in my arms, kissing me softly, a tear running down her cheek.  
“That’s our little bird Rowan. We made that.”  
I wiped it away and kissed her again as I thought that things were only getting better.


End file.
